The Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing and teaching the Dharma within the palace called Universal Radiance‍—a secluded Dharma hermitage11 with a courtyard arrayed with jewels that is the home of the thus-gone ones, a place where gnosis is perfectly analyzed, a place blessed by the buddhas of the past and praised by all beings, an abode of the great bodhisattvas, a place endowed with the best of all aspects and in harmony with the sameness of all phenomena. He was surrounded and venerated by billions of bodhisattvas, all of whom had been prophesied to become buddhas, had assembled from their separate world systems,12 were the heirs of the thus-gone ones who are the kings of the Dharma, and had attained the various dhāraṇīs and absorptions.

The Blessed One addressed the great assembly of bodhisattvas, saying, “Sons of the lineage, The Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence has been taught by as many thus-gone, worthy, perfect complete buddhas as there are sands in the river Ganges in order to benefit many beings, to bring happiness to many beings, to express sincere love for the world, and to benefit, help, and bring happiness to the great multitude of gods and humans. [F.28.a] [F.45.a] If sons or daughters of the lineage receive this Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence, bear it in mind, recite it, master it, teach it correctly and extensively to others, have faith in it, or generate exceptional devotion toward it, their progress toward unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening will never be reversed. They will never part from holding all the teachings. They will never part company with the blessed buddhas. They will never part from seeing and serving the Thus-Gone One. They will never part from listening to the Dharma. They will never part from honoring the saṅgha. They will demolish the ocean of saṃsāra for a thousand eons. They will remember the successive lives they pass until they become buddhas who have completely manifested unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. They will quickly become buddhas who have completely manifested unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. All the hordes of spirit beings will protect them. All human and nonhuman beings such as gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas will be fond of them. Their bodies will not be afflicted by illness. They will not die because of harm done by others. They will not die because of renouncing violence, spurning weapons, or neutralizing poisons. They will be impregnable to the evil Māra, invulnerable to the deities of Māra’s horde. They will need only to direct their attention to the deities of Māra’s horde for them all to tremble, panic in fear, and scatter in the ten directions.

“These are the Buddha’s words, the Buddha’s great words, the great words that were given by the Buddha, [F.28.b] [F.45.b] the words of all buddhas, the words of all the thus-gone ones:

“Although the objects that the Buddha perceives and the Dharma that he has taught are infinite, the simplified instruction is that one should focus the mind on a single thing.14

“The following dhāraṇī has been taught by all the buddhas out of their sincere love for all beings. It is the seal of all qualities:

As soon as the Blessed One had spoken this Discourse of the Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Essence, the mountains, the surrounding areas, and the forests shook in the following six ways: the whole trichiliocosm shook, shook violently, and shook all over. The great ocean trembled, trembled violently, and trembled all over. The supreme king of mountains trembled [F.29.a] [F.46.a] and quaked. The entire abode of Māra was terrified, and all of the deities of Māra’s horde and the wicked Māras were extremely distressed and miserable.

The beings who witnessed the great earth quaking prostrated to the thus-gone, arhat, perfect and complete buddha and recited the phrase “I prostrate to the thus-gone, arhat, perfect and complete buddha” three times. The gods that had genuine faith19 in the Buddha showered the Blessed One with divine mandārava flowers and great mandārava flowers, and by showering him with flowers brought joy to all who sought refuge in the Buddha. And thus it was said that:

“These eight offerings became the ornaments of the beneficial advantages of their good qualities. The eight are as follows: (1) the ornament of not forgetting bodhicitta; (2) the ornament of insatiable investigation of all one has studied; (3) the ornament of dependent origination, the definitive understanding of the profound Dharma; (4) the ornament of knowing [F.29.b] [F.46.b] those who are of supreme acumen and those who are not; (5) the ornament of correctly discerning and analyzing the teachings as one has heard them and as one has understood them; (6) the ornament of the non-apprehension of phenomena in order to bring all beings to ultimate fruition; (7) the ornament of skill in methods due to the Buddha’s blessing; and (8) the ornament of obtaining dhāraṇīs. Those eight are the ornaments of the beneficial advantages of his good qualities.21

“All beings should continually contemplate this dhāraṇī and meditate while recollecting the Buddha. If they contemplate the words of the dhāraṇī, all their karmic obscurations will be purified, they will attain the meditative concentration called the lotus array, and they will be able to wash away all illnesses and diseases with their hands. They should perform innumerable recitations of this dhāraṇī.”

When the Blessed One had spoken, the bodhisattva great beings, great śrāvakas, and the entire world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas praised the Blessed One’s words.